How Apprenticeship Will Save The American Economy

Nicholas Wyman
, ContributorI write about job skills in the 21st-century workplace.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

President Barack Obama has proclaimed this week – November 1 though November 7 – as National Apprenticeship Week. States the President, “during National Apprenticeship Week, we recognize the ways apprenticeships foster innovation and prosperity, and we recommit to encouraging and supporting those who offer and partake in them.”

AP Photo/Steve Aldridge

Apprenticeship is the western world’s oldest form of occupational training, and for good reason. By learning first-hand from an experienced tradesperson, an apprentice acquires mastery of a trade, inside and out. It is a hands-on method that equips participants with exactly the right skills and experience to transition directly into a particular job. Modern apprenticeships have countless advantages for employers and the economy as a whole, as well as for anyone at any stage of life, looking to launch a successful, well-paid, and fulfilling career.

This year, the Obama Administration committed $175 million to encourage and expand apprenticeship across the U.S., and in his FY 2016 budget the President asked Congress for another $2 billion to establish an Apprenticeship Training Fund.

The timing is not accidental. The recent recession has made it difficult for many low-skilled workers to get jobs that pay enough to keep themselves and their families above the poverty line. Even many college graduates do not have the skills for jobs in the modern economy. At the same time, many jobs stay vacant because employers can’t find qualified people to fill them.

Apprenticeship training offers a lifeline to both workers and employers. As the President notes in his proclamation, “apprenticeships help people upgrade their skills and keep pace with the demands of the 21st century.”

We all know that work has changed – the type of work we do, the skills required to do it, and the people doing the work. Apprenticeships have changed as well. Traditionally, apprenticeships were focused in the construction trades (and occupied mostly by men), whereas modern apprenticeships encompass a broad range of career areas – including IT, healthcare and finance.

Even older fields, such as manufacturing, are undergoing modern makeovers. No longer is factory work a low-skilled assembly line job. Instead, highly skilled technicians work to install, adjust and maintain complicated machinery and computer systems that run the modern plant. And all of these fields are equally open to both men and women.